Welcome to The Bright Empire.

I'm Brantley Thompson Elkins, and I got my start writing superheroine fiction in 2002 at the Aurora Universe site operated by the Artist Formerly Known as Sharon Best.

About a year later, both "Sharon" and the site vanished, and I quickly had to find a place on line for my own writing. Greg Pavlik, who ran a site called Ubergirls.org, provided a home and management tools for The Bright Empire. But when Greg announced that he could no longer maintain Ubergirls — which had been serving as an umbrella for a number of sites devoted to superheroine fiction, art and discussion — I had to find another home.

Shadar, ex Sharon, recommended a new server, and set me up there, with a different design but the same end in view — to offer the best in erotic superheroine fiction. It has become one of the highest-ranked sites for that category at Google, and it is a site meant for adults: please respect that. But over the years, it has also become more than that: a continuing experiment in combining the appeal of Aurora Universe superheroine fiction with that of science fiction worldbuilding: what some of us call AU-3 as contrasted with Shadar's AU-1 and AU-2. More about that here. But I have welcomed and will continue to welcome good superheroine stories that have nothing to do with any of of the variations of the AU.

One thing hasn't changed: the banner created for me in 2003 by Random, featuring the smart and sexy Mandi Steele: an image that conves the true spirit of The Bright Empire. It was just one of many examples of the mutual aid that has made the superheroine fiction and art community what it is. I owe a great debt to all those who have helped me in one way or another: Shadar, Tarot Barnes, Lisa Binkley, Ed Howdershelt, Jordan Taylor, Evelyn York, Jecel Assumpçao and others... last but far from least, the love of my life Velvet Belle Tree.